Rex Sikes' Movie Beat chats with casting directors Jane Jenkins and Janet Hirshenson

Jane Jenkins & Janet Hirshenson of The Casting Company have cast over 100 feature films, including the Academy Award winning "A Beautiful Mind" “Something’s Gotta Give” “The Da Vinci Code” “Angels & Demons” Oscar nominated “Frost/Nixon” "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone" "Something's Gotta Give" " Airforce One" "Jurassic Park" "The American President""Apollo 13" " The Lost World" "A Few Good Men" "Backdraft" "Misery" "Ghost" "When Harry Met Sally" "Mystic Pizza" "Beetlejuice" "Stand By Me" "Home Alone" "The Outsiders" to name a few. Jane began her career in entertainment as an actress in New York City. She entered the casting profession while working in film production. Her first project was "On The Nickel" an independent film written, produced and starring her friend Ralph Waite. She soon began working with other casting directors, including Jennifer Shull, who would later connect her with Janet Hirshenson. Janet Hirshenson was introduced to casting while working as a temporary secretary for the casting office of Ray Stark's, Rastar Productions. It was there that Jenkins joined Janet and Jennifer. When Shull moved to head the casting department at Francis Ford Coppola's Zoetrope Studios in Hollywood, she brought both Janet and Jane with her. With the closing of Zoetrope Hollywood Jane and Janet joined forces and formed The Casting Company. Today, they are established as two of the premier casting directors in the entertainment industry and this year are celebrating 29 years in business together. Their book A STAR IS FOUND: Our Adventures Casting some of Hollywood’s Biggest Movies is enjoying continued success. They cast the recently released Rob Reiner film “Flipped”, and Chris Columbus’ “Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightening Thief”. Stay tuned to Rex Sikes' Movie Beat for other great archived interviews, cast and crew listings, events, festivals, premieres, and more at http://www.rexsikes.com Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.